Jobs: ‘Blu-ray is a bag of hurt’

Apple has no immediate plans to deploy Blu-ray in its Macs, citing the cost of licensing as cause.

Speaking during the MacBook family launch event Tuesday, Apple CEO Steve Jobs said: “You know, Blu-ray is a bag of hurt. I don’t mean from a consumer point of view—it’s great to watch movies—but the licensing is so complex.

“We’re waiting until things settle down and Blu-ray takes off in the marketplace before we burden our customers with the cost of the licensing and the cost of the drives.”

While Apple is a member of the Blu-ray Disc Association, the company hopes to avoid the $US30-per-Mac royalty that would be required should the company deploy players across its computers.

Never say never, of course, but Apple management may also have a less enthusiastic view on the Blu-ray format, as film in HD is already available online from services like iTunes or NetFlix. Has Blu-ray missed its moment as physical media distribution goes digital?